Definitely a grift. They are trying to convince Peter Thiel and the other tech ghouls that this will lead to big advances in life-extending technologies in the hopes the will give them giant sacks of money.

I remember reading a fascinating article about Barry Bonds.

The whole thing is a pyramid.


Ground tier is your GNC type stores. The products at these stores are of course entirely Barnum. Nothing these stores ever sold contributed to the gain of muscle mass. Not a single muscle fiber.
Next up are the fixers. The fixers use money from a slush fund generated by the sales from these 'health' stores and things get gross. They then approach the chronically ill and dying and offer up an exchange: A small amount of money for some of the anti-inflammatories these doomed souls are prescribed. Also known to people who abuse them as 'roids'. These are then shopped for exorbitant sums to trainers. Then you have the trainers serve it up to athletes on a discrete, silver platter.

When you know about this system suddenly the whole thing is a fuck of a lot less a victimless crime. There are entire 'steroid mafias' that oversee and if need be enforce said system. The shot callers are usually associated with violent cartels south of the border.

For decades lance armstrong cheated and had a loyal fan base falling on their sword to defend his unquestionable innocence.

He’s still rich, didn’t spend a second in jail and isn’t a social pariah anywhere outside of professional cycling

Cheaters win and get to keep all the money.

It hilarious how the Olympic world is pretending to be outraged that Russia got caught doping as though most of the rest of them were just better at cheating